


The Stark Reality

by prlrocks



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Gen, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-12 22:25:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17476073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prlrocks/pseuds/prlrocks
Summary: Most of The Avengers are dead and  it is left up to Tony to reverse The Snap. He really means to return things back to what they were, but a hidden selfish desire gets in the way.AKA: Tony creates a reality where Peter is his son.





	1. Chapter 1

How had this happened? _This_ was never supposed to happen. It had been agreed, five votes to one, that Steve Rogers, possible demigod extraordinaire, was the one who would wield the gauntlet. It was Cap's job to restore all existence to what it had been before The Snap. Howard would have been _so_ darn proud. Fuck, Tony, himself would have been damn proud. Now, he wanted to throw up. 

The unthinkable had happened. Blearily, through the tears and shock, he could see Rogers body lying among the dead; Earth's Mightiest Heroes reduced to nothing. Bitterness filled Tony as he stared at the very vision that had too long haunted his nightmares. They were all dead and Tony remained. It was now his job to do what everyone thought only Captain Fucking America could do. _Great._

He trudged forward and glared at the gauntlet. For something so mindbogglingly powerful, it looked cheap, like a child's toy; all shiny with colorful sparkly gems. He grimaced. This "toy" was lying in the dirt, with a streak of Steve Roger's blood across the gold. _Fun._

He crouched down and reached out, pausing just before his fingers touched the gauntlet. Would it kill him? Did it matter? He laughed bitterly. Everyone was gone. Pepper and Rhodey had sacrificed all to get the now dead Avengers to this moment... and Happy and Peter? Dust. No, it really didn't matter. 

He picked up the gauntlet, slipped it on his hand, and focused. 

"Breathe in, breathe out, Stark," he muttered. "You _have_ to do this." 

It wasn't just Earth he had to fix, it was everywhere. It was worlds upon worlds he'd never even know existed. _Bring it back, being it all back._ The idiots. The innocent. Every creature Thanos had stolen away. It was almost too much to fathom, but he had to do it. 

His eyes slid to the pile of dead nearby, The Avengers. Their ungrateful asses drove him insane, but he cared about them so much. Rhodey and Happy, his ever loyal, ever suffering friends. He had never appreciated them quite enough. Even more so, Pepper. _Pepper, who_ deserved so much better than he could ever give her. And Peter, the kid who was so brave and brilliant and dorky. He loved him like a son. God, that had been hard to admit to himself, but he did. He loved that kid. He loved them all and needed them back. Every last one. 

Trembling, he closed his eyes one last time. He had to do this. He had to will all those worlds back into being. Blowing out a breath, he pushed forward all that his heart desired and snapped. 

 

 

Tony blinked to wakefulness and sat up in his bed.... a bed? 

"Where the hell am I?" he muttered, feeling completely confused. 

"The townhouse, Sir. Manhattan."

"JARVIS?"

"Yes, Sir?" 

He sat up at the side of the bed and tried not to freak out. He was in a strange place and JARVIS was still JARVIS. This had to be a dream. 

He huffed. "Since when do I have a townhouse? Completely not my style."

"You purchased this residence on October 5, 2006, Sir. You did so upon the advise of Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes. He believed such a residence to be ideal for young Peter."

Tony's eyes went wide. He bought a townhouse for Peter? What the hell was going on? 

"Do you require help, Sir? I sense some distress."

He shook his head. "I- I didn't even know Peter in 2006." 

"Of course you did, Sir. You took custody of Peter one year prior, right after his mother Mary Fitzpatrick died."

"Yeah, that didn't happen. I wish it had."

So this was his home and his room, in a place he had was pretty sure he had never owned. One he had bought for Peter? He got up and grabbed a robe lying on a near by chair. It fit perfectly. 

Glancing around him, he noted the room was nice. It screamed money and was in the modern style that he enjoyed, though something about the room felt different. It felt more... _personal_. Old clothing was in a pile on the floor, a small stack of books was on the side table and the dresser was overcrowded with various knickknacks arranged across it's surface. As he studied the knickknacks, he now knew for sure this had to be a dream. There was no reality where he collected tacky travel souvenirs and visited Disneyland on a yearly basis. Though somehow, his father's old cufflinks graced the dresser as well. The sight put him on edge. 

Opening the door, he peaked out into the hall. Seeing no one, he gingerly made he way down the hall until he reached some stairs. He heart spend up again. _Voices_. People were talking near by. 

After creeping down one flight of stairs then another, he found himself in a foyer. It was open and airy and the way the sunlight streamed down from above reminded him deeply of the house he grew up in.

"Hey, Boss."

Tony screamed. Clinching his teeth, he turned around and saw a wide-eyed Happy. 

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. I just-"

"You okay, Dad?" Footsteps ran in his direction, before skidding to a halt. 

Hand on his poor heart, Tony turned to see Peter, eyebrows furrowed, hair a mess and several years younger then he remembered him being. 

"Peter," he breathed. 

"Yeah, Dad?" 

Brown eyes stared at him filled with such worry and innocence. Tony began to shake, as all the air was sucked from the room. Those eyes... big brown and filled with such shock and fear. _'I don't... I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go, sir, please. Please, I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go. I'm sorry.'_ Tony gasped for air as he fell to the floor. _But Peter had gone._ He had faded into nothingness. 

Until this moment... ' _Dad?_ ' Oh god, what had he done? 

Tony crumbled and the world faded into darkness. Far away, he heard Peter yelling and felt someone grabbing onto his arm. Words encouraged him to breathe. “In... Out. In... Out.” He followed their command. Suddenly, the world came back, but he found himself lost in the bright sun from above. That was, before Happy's face swam back into focus. 

"You all right?"

Rubbing his eyes, he nodded yes, even though, _no,_ he was anything but all right.

Happy frowned "I didn't mean to scare you. I was just going to say, I was taking Pete to school." 

"Yeah... you do that." He looked over at Peter, who was clinging to his side. Tony reached out, cupped Peter's face with one hand and wiped the tears away. "You okay, kid?"

Peter nodded, biting his lip. The boy was lying, just like his _Dad_.

The trembling returned. Tony took a few deep deliberate breaths, trying his best to stay calm. He slowly pulled himself up, dragging Peter along with him. 

"So... school...?"

"Last day," Peter stated weakly. 

"Well, you can't miss that." He looked to Happy.

"You sure, Boss?" 

"I"m fine. I just- you know." 

Happy nodded and turned to Peter. "Five minutes, kid, or you're going to be late."

Peter hesitated until Tony waved him away. “Go. Scat.” He did, running up the stairs. 

Happy opened with mouth to speak, but Tony quieted him with the shake of the head. He needed to be alone. 

He walked one room over, which turned out to be a living room. So typically him, but different, just like the bedroom. Pictures lined the fireplace's mantle. He saw his parents, Happy and Rhodey, and even the Avengers, but most of all he saw Peter; Him and Peter with huge smiles and intense closeness radiating from each and every frame. His heart swelled with a strange painful pleasure when he saw the one of them at Disneyland. Okay, maybe in this world? The one where he was Peter's Dad?

He knew this wasn't right. One moment, he had been in hell and now he was in... heaven. He had meant to put the world back just as it was. He had really, really meant to. Should he fix it? Could he? Did he even want to?

He heard running down the stairs. He turned to find Peter plowing right into him and giving him a big hug. "Bye, Dad. Love you." Tony smiled and ruffled his hair. Annoyed, Peter smacked his hand away and ran towards the front door with an added, “Later.”

“Love you too!” he called out. 

The door slammed shut and the house fell quiet. Tony sat on the couch. He knew this was wrong. After a long moment of staring at his fingers, he closed his eyes and snapped. With a laugh, he shook his head. _Nope._

“God, I'm selfish."

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

Tony found himself unable to move from the spot on the couch. There was the soft ticking of a clock, lulling him into a state of peace. It was the first peace that he had felt in many years. He was drained both emotionally and mentally. It was easier to just lay there and passively take in the room around him; The pictures, the bookshelves filled with board games and DVDs, the side table with Star Wars comic books strewn across it. Lazily, he glanced over to the clock. It was about 9am. He wondered what the Tony of this world was supposed to be doing.

As if answering, JARVIS said, “Miss Potts is calling, Sir. Should I put her through?

His eyes went wide as he pulled himself up straight. _Pepper. Alive. He never thought-_ His heart thudded in shock and excitement. “Put her through,” he choked. “Pepper?”

“Tony? Where are you? The meeting begins in five minutes.”

Tony smiled as happiness flooded him to the point he felt dizzy with it. It felt like years since he last heard her voice. It nearly was. Now, she was alive and well enough to be annoyed at him. It was perfect. The last time they had spoke.... He could barely think of that moment. She was dying, they both knew it and they did everything they could to say their last goodbyes.

“Tony?”

“I'm here.”

“I told you this was important,” she said dryly.

What so say? They had been here before, but this time he truly had no clue what she was talking about. “I'm... I'm not feeling well,” he said, his voice cracking. In truth, he felt like a mess, but in the most incredible way possible. Every last meaningful thing in his life had been torn away from him and now it was all being returned.

There was a long silence, before she quietly stated, “I think I understand, Tony.”

He hummed. Of course, she did. She had seen him an emotion wreck more times than anyone else.

“Don't worry about the meeting, I'll handle it. I need to go.”

“Love you,” he said, feeling satisfied that he could say those words to her again.

There was another long pause, before she responded. “I'll send you an update on how the meeting went.” With that she hung up.

Tony's smile faded away. This time, as the silence greeted him, a sense of dread and anxiety filled him. Pepper sounded different. Pepper sounded _annoyed_ by his statement.

“JARVIS?” he weakly managed.

“What can I do for you, Sir?””

“What _exactly_ is my relationship with Pepper?”

“She is the CEO of Stark Industries.”

That confirmed his suspicions, but he needed to make sure. “So... no flowers, champagne and long weekend getaways? ”

“Tragically not.. Despite my efforts, you have always insisted that your relationship with Miss Potts was strictly professional.”

“Yeah,” he muttered, sinking into the couch and rubbing his face, “it couldn't be too perfect, could it?”

Balling his fists, he hit the couch in frustration. _Fuck!_ Grumbling, he took a few heavily breathes and rubbed his now stinging wrist. _Fucking arm._

She was alive though, he reminded himself and that was everything. And maybe they weren't there yet. Maybe it could still happened. If Peter was younger that meant they were younger too. Their early years was the time period of fantastic chemistry and epic fuck ups. Maybe this was just one of their off periods?

As his eyes scanned the pictures on the mantle again, his gut screamed that it wasn't true. She wasn't there. Even during the off periods she would have been there.

Tony had to face the facts. For the first time in his life, he was completely out of his depth. What did he really know about this life? He was Peter's father, which was amazing. He owned this townhouse, which was strangely starting to grow on him and him and Pepper had a 'professional' relationship. _That_ needed to be fixed. ASAP. He had been throw into a life already in progress and sitting here wasn't going to give him answers on what that life was like. He needed to figure this out. He needed data.

It took a few minutes, but he found an office on the second floor. It was on the small side, but comfortable. The desk took up a decent amount of the floor space and behind that was a large leather chair. There was a brown leather couch to the side and cooper fountain attached to the wall. Looking at his desk, he found a pile of paperwork with a Post-It note from Pepper on top. “SIGN THESE!” was written in big bold letters. There also was a single photo of Peter. It appeared current and was likely a year book picture. Thankfully, the Stark of this world was not too different. Tech was integrated throughout the room. Bringing it up, the interface felt out of date and sluggish, but it wasn't too far off from what he was use to. Updates would be needed.

Where to start in the life of this Tony Stark? There was information on himself, of course, and he was dying to know about Pepper, but deep down he knew he had to start where this all began. _Peter._

“JARVIS, bring up my files on Peter.”

“Anything in particular, Sir?”

“Nope. Give me all you got.” As the information began to populate the screen, he saw that the earliest files dated to 2001. Taking it in, his hand hovered over the screen. With the gentle press of his hand, this reality he was in would become all the more real; a life in ones and zeros. Knowing it had to be done, he pressed down. “All right,” he murmured, “Daddy wants to read Pete's baby book. ”

The file wasn't quite what he envisioned. The earliest documents dealt with prenatal paternity tests (his lawyers clearly were not happy), followed by ' _Congratulations! You're a Daddy! Now pay up'_ filings, custody agreements, and updates to his will. It was cold and practical and he raised an eyebrow at himself that this was the reality he created. He guessed his mind could accept a child from a one night stand more than one from some torrid love affair he never had.

The paternity test was a doozy though. His desire for Peter to be his had been through. It went straight down to their DNA. He knew for a fact that wasn't true, though within this reality he had constructed, it was unquestionably so. Peter was his. He wondered, if he ran the test now, if the results would be the same. The itch of curiosity tingled at his brain. He told himself it didn't matter, but clearly to some part of himself it did.

Tony swiped the screen a few more times until he came upon a picture. He was younger. His hair was a bit longer and a complete mess.... and there, bundled within his arms was Peter. His expression wasn't exactly happy, though a small half smile graced his face; it was more subtly stunned. The picture after was of Rhodey and Happy. They were standing outside what appeared to be the maternity ward. Happy was standing stoically by, while Rhodey was giving the camera a huge thumbs up. He looked so blissed out happy that Tony was surprised confetti wasn't falling on his head.

The warmth of fondness filled his chest. “JAVIS, move copies of those pictures over to my phone.”

“Transfer complete.”

“Where is my phone, by the way?” He knew he had to have one, but at the moment he was still in his boxers and robe.

“In your bedroom, Sir. On your side table.”

He hummed. He'd worry about that later.

Looking further, he found the birth certificate. _Peter Edwin Fitzpatrick_. Born August 10, 2001 to Mary Teresa Fitzpatrick and Anthony Edward Stark. His breath left him as his eyes darted away in guilt. _No Benjamin. No Parker._ For the first time, he wondered about Richard Parker... Benjamin Parker... May....

Rubbing his eyes, he groaned, “God, I'm a dick.”

“Progress. The first step is admitting it.”

Wide-eyed, Tony whipped around towards the voice. Sitting there, at his desk, was Strange, magical floating cape and all.

“Hello, Stark.”

“What- Okay.” He took a moment to process what he was seeing. Strange, here, in his made-up alternative timeline. Nodding to himself, he took a step forward and explained, “I know, I know. Once again, Tony Stark fucked up, but guess what? I'm not changing things back.”

“Good.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Good?”

“Yes. Good.”

“Wait? Seriously?”

Strange leaned forward and smiled “I'm not here to take you out of your parental wet dream.”

“Okay. Why _are_ you here?” he spat. “Even better, _how_?”

“Easy, Stark.” He glanced up, as though thinking. “Right now, I'm shifting through all those millions of possibilities.” He smirked, “I can also I can hear you trying to reason with Quill. Honestly, on a scale of one to ten, how badly did you want to kill him?”

Tony took a step back and huffed. “Seven, maybe eight, on the annoyance alone. A solid 20 when he threatened Peter.”

Strange closed his eyes and shook his head. “Mantis is about to see me. I'll go back, but not until we're done here. As for the why, what reality isn't improved by you listening to what I have to say?”

“Ah. So you're my Ghost of Christmas Past... or Future?”

Strange got up, walked around the desk towards Tony and stopped in front of the screen baring Peter's birth certificate. “This is where the guilt begins gnawing at your brain. Time and time again, I saw you sacrifice your own happiness to do what you thought was right. Except once.”

Tony paused. “The 'Once'?”

Strange nodded.

“It can't be that easy,” Tony went on. “Be selfish, save the world?”

“And live with the guilt.”

“I've already has a buffet of guilt. What's one more serving?”

“It's a rather large serving,” Strange dryly stated, then sighed. “Listen to me, because you need to hear this.” He grabbed Tony's shoulder and stared into his eyes.“There was never coming back from it, not completely. The damage was too great. So now your the father from some kid from Queens. _So. What._ ”

“So what!” he pulled away. “I-” Tony shook with frustration. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Here, he was getting angry at Strange for telling him _exactly_ what he wanted to hear. Still, there was that voice whispering. _This is wrong. Steve would have done better._

Strange entered Tony's space again, forcing him to look up. “If you try to fix this, we just end up right back at square one. You put us in a loop and we just repeat the same mistakes all over again.” He gestured at the room around them. “This takes us out of that. This creates something new. The kid's mother was always going to die and May and Ben Parker are not suffering. They're currently sitting on a white sand beach drinking cocktails.”

“All the little umbrellas in the world doesn't make up for what I _stole,_ ” he snapped.

“Does it matter? In my timeline, Thanos is about to snap his fingers and ablative half of creation. This right here, this is the one scenario I found where that doesn't happen. I've seen wars, countless sacrifices, chases through time. None of them stopped Thanos. Not one, but this?” Strange smiled sadly and shrugged. “It works. It is so simple, it's laughable.”

“So this one time, how do we make it happen?”

“It's happening right now. I'm saying what you need to hear and in a year's time you'll tell Wanda Maximoff what she needs to hear.”

“Wha-” Tony frowned. “See, I'm not the guy who accepts a vague explanation before you disappear. Details!”

Strange threw him an annoyed glare. “I was getting there. In most scenarios people fight for the stone or hide them. It always fails. They need to be destroyed or at least one does. Maximoff's powers were brought out from the mind stone. She alone can destroy it. She has destroyed it, but by the time she did, it was far too late.”

“What exactly do I need to tell Sabrina to convince her to do this?”

“If I tell you, you'll fail.”

“How about _when_?”

Strange shakes his head.

“All right. So I get the person who hates my guts to do me a huge favor. Time and location to be announced. Got it.”

“She'll do it.”

Tony paused in thought, before asking, “I haven't gotten around to looking it up and there was the whole unexpected time travel snafu. When exactly is now?”

“May 30, 2014. S.H.I.E.L.D has fallen and Sokovia is a year away.”

“Noted. So much awfulness ahead. Thanks for the reminder.”

“You're welcome. Now I have to say something annoyingly mushy, but if I don't say it...” He snaps his fingers.

Stark quirked his eyebrow. “Than I might not hold it against you.”

“Appreciated.” Strange rolled his eyes and with a deep sign said, “Embrace being a father. Don't fight it.”

Tony titled his head, waiting for more. It didn't come. “That's it? And here I thought my father was emotionally constipated.”

Strange smirked. His eyes were sparkling with amusement like he had tricked Tony into revealing some dark secret.

“Yes, your father. You are nothing like him, Stark. Fatherhood actually suits you.”

Tony glanced away.

“I was surprised as well,” Strange went on. “This isn't some perfect reality. I can give you a list five miles long of atrocities that have happened and even a longer one of things that will happen. Help where you can, but remember to the Tony Stark of this world that kid is everything. Better?”

Tony gave a short nod and took a step back. “To the Tony Stark of my world that kid means a lot as well.”

“Obviously. And now...”

Tony watched as Strange started to do his mystical mojo and green symbols floated in the air. Seeing that he was about to lose his lifeline, he snapped out, “That's it? That's all the help I get?”

Strange glanced back at Tony. “In a year, Junior will get a urge to visit Oscorp. Let him.” With that, Strange was gone.

Tony leaned on the edge of his desk and tried to process everything that has just happened. For all his words, Strange hadn't really shared a lot. Thanos being stopped was not a sealed deal, but this was their shot. He had Wanda to contend with. The woman justifiably hated his guts, but he had to reach out to her at the right moment and convince her to play nice. That likely meant dealing with the hellbot Ultron. Seeing him in action was what convinced her to switch sides the first time. Still, Tony was not to fond of the idea of unleashing that homicidal fuck up upon the world again.

And then there was Peter. Strange seemed fixated on his relationship with Peter. If he thought Tony would drag Peter anywhere near Sokovia or dark side Wanda, he would have to be disappointed. That was completely out of question.

Tony pushed himself off the desk and sauntered towards the screen displaying Peter's birth certificate. After staring at it for a long moment, he swept his hand across the screen until it was back on the picture of him holding baby Peter. After all the suffering, after all the loss, why shouldn't this be his? Why not? He ran his hand through his hair and blew out a breath. This was the only way. Thanos had fucked up the entire universe and he had fixed it. Strange had even given him permission. There was no going back. Only forward on _this_ path. A path where Peter was his.

Still, fuck, he felt guilty. He felt like the greedy asshole people had been claiming he was his whole life. Strange was right. It was a rather large portion of guilt. He'd swallow it down though. He'd live his life and be.... he'd be the best dad to Peter that he could be. He wanted this.

Tony spent the rest of the afternoon going through Peter's file. There was a lot. It seemed that either him or JARVIS kept record of anything to do with the boy. He wished it was just pictures and keepsakes, but it wasn't. Him and Mary did not get along. He found himself listening to recordings of old phone conversions that they has shared. Most were short and mundane, but a few... the only other person he could remember having such nasty conversions with was his father. The venom went both ways, but her words burned.

_Buying his affections, neglectful, irresponsible, horrendous role model._

“ _I'd hoped you'd throw your money at us the way you do with all your problems and just go away.”_

For better or worse, he hadn't and when Peter was four, Mary died in a car accident. The first thing he had done was hire a nanny. The second, was to change Peter's last name to Stark. _Great. Another thing to feel like shit about._ Tony didn't know what Strange was thinking. He was his father personified.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to those who reviewed and asked for more, I decided to continue this fic. I hope you like it. Also thank you to everyone who left Kudos. It means a lot! I will do my best to update as quickly as I can, but I am a slow writer. Once again, I have no beta so if you see any major issues, please point them out. 
> 
> This chapter is an insane amount of setup and world building (ex: Tony and Pepper's lack of relationship). I've been going through MCU canon and mentally rewriting events based on the idea that Tony had a kid all along. Some things will be similar and other stuff different. Tony's life has not been perfect. He's made mistakes and grown as a person and as a father. I hope to show that in this fic. I don't know how long this fic will be, but I do know how it ends. 
> 
> So sorry for the lack of Peter in this chapter! I meant to end on a scene with him and Tony, but I as the scene got longer and longer, I realized it would extend how long it took me to get this chapter out by a lot. Good news is I have several pages of the next chapter already written and it's all Tony and all Peter and much lighter than what I've posted so far. Time for father & son bonding.

**Author's Note:**

> I have not written a fic in years, but this idea would not go away so here we are. It doesn't have a beta so I hope the grammar isn't too bad. If you see any blatant mistakes feel free to point them out. Also, when I did write, I never wrote characters like Tony. I hope he isn't too OOC. 
> 
> I'm surprised that more people haven't played around with the fact that the infinity stones can change time and even reality (at least that I've seen). There are so many possible things you can do with that. *Snap* Suddenly everyone has a soulmate.*Snap*Tony's parents are alive, etc. 
> 
> In my fic, Tony's desire lead to a reality where not only did Peter grow up with him, but he was Tony's biological son. Poor Tony is feeling guilty that he messed up, while loving the reality he created. 
> 
> Oh and thing of note: The one person who didn't vote for Steve was Steve himself.


End file.
